Washing machine drive



Aug. 26, 1941. I H. D. cRoF-f 2,253,894

WASHING MACHINE DRIVE Filed Dec. 2, 1939 INVENTOR. fifiwr fl (7ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES "FATE Hiram n. Croft, Springii ,a, Mass, assignor toPerkins Machine and Springfield, Mass. a g;

sctts ear Company, West v ration of Massachn- I Application December 2,1939, Serial No. 307,259

9 Claims.

.. invention relates to improvements in -washing machines or the likeand is directed particularly to washing machines having a new and noveloperating mechanism for the agitator I orpaddle and shaft thereof.

The principal objects of the invention are di- 7 rected to the provisionof a washing machine which is characterized by mechanism includingfrictionally-engageable drivingand driven membersrfor oscillating theagitator, as distinguished from positive means such as gears, and novelmeans for controlling the action of said incinbers or for causing saidmechanism to produce the desired action of the agitator and shaft to theendthat the same may be oscillated back ,and forth through variousangles while being load-responsive. In connection wlth'washing machineshaving the novel'foperating mechanism wherein friction ally engageablemembers are employed, it is desired that the mechanism be responsive tot e load applied to the agitator and be adjustable accommodate oroperateon various kinds of material being washed thereby to-avoid injuryand damage to the materials and the mechanism as well. Some materialsfor best results require a more or less violent. washing action thanothers. The

frictionally engageable members make itpossible to operate the agitatorthrough various angles of oscillation to accommodate the materials beingwashed, The novel-control means for the engageable members assures thedesired smooth ,and eiiicient action of the mechanism so astonot onlyavoid injury and damage to the clothes and the mechanism but makm itpossible to accurately control the mechanismand provide thedesired-angle of oscillation and washing action f agitator and shaftoscillate back and forth" smoothly without undue strains and jerkinessangle of oscillation.

novel .in'eans is proVided for urging the driving quires but littlemanual eflort in operation and so constructed and arranged asto provide1 aecuracyz ot control whereby the desired degree aim-emotion; howeverslight. m e'c nei 40 the ho en operating at a relatively nar'-' and itis possible to readily and easily'vary the "According tospecial'features of the invention mill-driven members into engagementwhich replied to the agitatorso. as to safeguard boththe mechanism andtheniaterial being washed b ut' it. is adaptedfor varioiis degrees ofoscillatio nv 5 and may be adjusted forany predetermined 05- cillations.v

' Various novel features and advantages of the invention will behereinafter more fully referred to in connection. with the accompanyingdescription of the present' preferred form thereof with reference to thedrawing, wherein: I Fig. 1 is. an inverted plan view or a washingmacfiine tub having the novel operating mechanismoftheinvention-associated therewith:

Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged sectional eleva tional view through theoperating mechanism showninFigihan'd I .i Fig; 3 is'aplan view ofcertain-parts ofthe operating mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 20 Sinvention will be fully described.' l

A tub of a washingmachlne is represented-by 2 and is shown ininverted'relatiom A shaft for the agitator is represented by Iwhich'extends upwardly through the lower wall lof the 2 for carrying theusual paddle or agitator within thetub..' r

The l I er end of-shaft'il. extends downwardly into a c or housing 8.The housing 8 is for 3Q enclosing a operatingmechanism and is secured toth tub in some suitable manner while a cover' l ll" provided'for thehousing so as to provide a lubricant-tight casing.

- A shaft I2 is, journalled in the housing 8 andit extends upwardlyalongside of the tub in the usual wairfor operating a wringer mechanism;I

This shaft l2 hasflxed thereto insome suitable manneraw'orm gearmemberll. v

, A motor I! is secured as' by the bracket to 8, and its shaft I isconnected as by a coupl l8 toa worm shaft 20 which is rotatable inthehousing. A 22 on shaft 20 is in operative engagement with worm gear 42?A driver or driving member 24 is pivoted to 'gear It at 2 'andthis'hasa' free end portion which "frictionally engages a driven member II on'agitator 'shaft 4. As member I! rotates, the member is restrained forsubstantially re-, 'ciprocating movements;v It will be obvious that Qthe member It may be reciprocated by other means thanthat shown. :v

members I II are frictio a engagegale surfaces or faces. In theform ofthe invenon I shown, member. 4 has, a circumferential groove it providedwith tapering or relatively in- Notonly lsthe mechanism responsive toload ap- Referring to the drawing more in detail, the.

clined faces while the upper and lower side faces of member 24 at itsend portion are complemental to the surfaces of the driven member so ithat when the members 4 and 28 e held in frictional engagement thedriven mem r will be os-, cillated back and forth by the driving memberand thereby shaft 4 and the agitator carried thereby isagitated.

The degree of oscillation of member 4 or its angle of oscillation willdepend more or less upon the pressure employed to hold the members 4 and24 in frictional engagement. To control that pressure and therebycontrol the oscillatory movements of the agitator and shaft 4, the meansto be hereinafter described is provided.

It will be noted that, as the member I2 rotates to reciprocate member24, the angle of member 24 is constantly changing. For instance, withreference toa certain line such as a line passing through the axes ofshafts 4 and IS the angle of member 24 with reference to said line isconstantly changing during a revolution of member l2.

To provide the desired smoothness of operation, uniformity of speed andnon-ierkiness or non-snapping action the driving and driven members areheld infrictional engagement and their action is controlled by thefollowing:

A shoe member 32 is slotted longitudinally to slidably receive the outerend of the driving member 24 so that it may reciprocate therein and beurged thereby towards the driven member 28.

The member 32" is provided with an elongated opening which receivesshaft 4, the parts being By moving member up or down the frlctionallyengaging numbers are caused to function to produce more or less of anangle of oscillation of shaft 4. The axial movement of the, member a.

from a position where the angle of oscillation of shaft 4'is zero to aposition where the angle is greatest is slight since the angle of wedgepart 36 and member 22 are so constructed.

The member 34 may be operated in various ways but in-the'fo'rm of theinvention illustrated a fork'4ll has parts 42 in a groove 44 at theupper end of part 22 and said fork 4Q is fixed to an operating shaft 48oscillatable in a side of housing I. As shaft 44 is, oscillated in onedirection or the other the member III is raised or'lowered to vary thepressure applied'to the drive member and in that way the angle ofoscillation of shaft 4 is varied. H

The outer portion of shaft 4! is iournall'ed in a bearing 48 and anextension II of said shaft may be extended upwardly at a side of' thetubfor manual engagement to oscillate said shaft 48, A member 52 slidableon said shaft and held against rotatlonr'ela'tive thereto by means ofthe pinand slot, shown','has a serrated'surface' en- The member 52 isurged towards bearing 48 by means of a spring 54 disposed between saidmember 54 and a member 56 on said shaft 4!. As said operating lever 50is swung from one po-' sition to the other to adjust or control theaction of the frictionally engageable members it is held in suchposition by the members 48 86 described.

It will be noted that theparts are arranged in such a way that pressureis applied readily and quickly so that it is possible to obtain thedesired angle of oscillation of shaft 4, whether a small or great angle,depending on the materials being washed. The parts are so constructedand arranged that the member 24 in its reciprocation and changingangularity does not interfere with or change the pressure so that theoscillations which are predetermined are constant and uniform.

While I have described the invention ingreat detail and with respect tothe present preferred form thereof, it is not desired to be limitedthereto since changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essentialcharacteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, thescope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims ratherthan by the foregoing description, and-all changes which come within themeaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended tobe embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a washing machine, a support, an oscillatable agitator shaft, andmeans for oscillating said shaft through various angles, compris ing incombination, a driven member on said shaft, a drive member and means toreciprocate the same, said drive and driven members havingcomplemental'ang'ularly disposed frictionally engageable faces wherebythe latter is oscil lated through various angles of oscillationaccording to pressure applied to urge said drive and driven memberstowards one another, a pressure member operable against said drivemember as it reciprocates to urge the same towards said driven member,and means movable transversely to the plane of reciprocation of thedrive memher acting on said pressure member to urge said member towardsid drive member.

2. In a washing achine, aJHDP rt, an oscillatable agitator shaft, andmeans for oscillating said shaft through various angles, comprising incombination, a driven member on said shaft, a drive member and means toreciprocate the same. said drive and driven members having complementalangularly disposed frlctionally engageable faces whereby the latterisoscillated through various anglesof oscillation according to pressurepplied to urge said drive and driven members towards one another, andvariable means for urging said drive and driven members towards oneanother, including, a pressure member relative to which said drivemember reciprocates acting on said member, and means acting .on saidmember associated with said agitatorshaft :ggrzble in a planeparalleltothe akis of said 3; In a washing machine, a support, anoscillat- I able agitator shaft: andmeans for owllating gageable with asimilan surface on bearing 44. Ba h ft through various angles,comprising in combination, a driven member on said shaft, 2. drivemember and means to reciprocate the same, said drive and driven membershaving relatively angularly disposed frictionally engageable faceswhereby the latter is oscillated through various angles of oscillationaccording to pres-- sure applied to urge said drive and driven mem berstowards one another, a pressure memberassociated'with said agitatorshaftand driven member movableback and forth transversely of said shaftin which said drive member is re-- ciprocable for urging said drive anddriven members into engagement, and variable means .act-

' ing on said pressure member to move it in one direction to urge thedriving and driven member into engagement.

4. In a washing machine,. a support, an oscillable agitator shaft, andmeans for oscillating said shaft through various angles, comprising incombination, a driven member on said shaft, a drive member and means toreciprocate the same, said drive and driven members having relativelyangularly disposed frictionally engageable faces whereby the latter isoscillated through various angles of oscillation according to pressureapplied to urge said drive and driven members towards one another, apressure member associatedwith said agitator shaft and driven membermovable back and forth transversely of said shaft in which said drivemember is reciprocable for urging said drive and driven members intoengagement, and means acting on said pressure member transversely to thedirection of movement of said pressure member to move it in onedirection to ur e the driving and driven member into engagement, saidmeans including a slidable member movable axially of said agitator shafthaving an angularly disposed part acting on said pressure member.

5. In a washing machine, a. support, an oscillatable agitator shaft, andmeans for oscillating said shaft through various angles, comprising incombination, a driven member on said shaft, a

drive member and means to reciprocate the same, said drive and drivenmembers having.

angularly d sposed frictionally engageable faces whereby the latter isoscillated through various angles of oscillation according to pressureap-- pl ed to urge said drive and driven members towards one another, apressure member associated with said agitator shaft and driven membermovable back and forth transversely of said shaft in which said drivemember is reciprocable for urging said drive and driven members intoengagement, and means. acting on said pressuremember to move it in onedirectionto urge the driving and driven member into engagement,-

said means including. a slidable member movable axially of said agitatorshaft having an angularly disposed part acting on said pressure member,a d operating means for moving said slidable m mber and releasablyholding the same in various positions of adjustment.

6. In a washing machine, a support, an oscillatable agitator shaft, andmeans for oscillating said shaft through various angles, comprising incombination, a driven member on said shaft, a

drive member and means to reciprocate the same, said drive and drivenmembers having angularly disposed frictionally engageable faces wherebythe latter is oscillated through various plied to urge said drive anddriven members towards one another, a pressure member movabletransversely of the agitator shaft in which said drive memberisreciprocable to urge said drivangles of oscillation according topressure aping and driven members into frictional engage ment, a membermovable axially of said agitator shaft acting on said pressure member to.urge

said pressure member in' pressure applying direction, and adjustableoperating means for said last named member. I

7. Mechanism for oscillating the agitator shaft of a washing machine orthe like comprising in combination, arotatable member having a drivingmember pivoted thereto at one end, a driven member, said driven anddriving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable facesadapted to be wedged together for frictional action, by wedging pressurewhereby said driven member may be oscillated by the driving memberthrough various angles according to the degree of wedging pressure, andmeans for aplying wedging pressure including a pressure member engagingthe rear face of said driving member movable toward said driven memberand a wedge member movable parallelto the axis of said shaft, saidwedge'member and pressure memberhaving complemental angular faceswhereby as the wedgemember is moved in one direction the pressure memberis moved 'towards said shaft.

The combination with the oscillatable agitator and drive shafts of a.washing machine of means for driving the former from the lattercomprising, a member on said drive shaft, a drive member pivotallyconnected tov said member, a driven' member on said "agitator shaft,said drive and driven members having engageable complementalfrictionally engageable faces, a

pressure member slidable transversely of said agitator shaft in whichsaid drive member is reciprocably guided for urging the same towardssaid driven member. 'a member reciproc'able on said agitator shafthaving a: member engaging said pressure member, said pressure member andlast named member provided with angularly disposed engageable wedgefaces whereby as the last named member is moved axially of said agitatorshaft in one direction the pressure member is moved towards saidagitator shaft.

9. The combination with the oscillatable ag'itator and drive shafts of awashing machine of means for driving the former from the lattercomprising, a member on said drive shaft, a drive member pivotallyconnected to-said member, a driven member on said agitator shaft, saiddrive and driven members having engageable complemental frictionallyengageable faces, a pressure member slidable transversely of said itatorshaft in which said drive member'is rejustment.

HIRAM D. CROFT.

